Product Profile : Indian Ethnic Food

As per the Draft Agriculture export policy 2018 by Ministry of Commerce and Industry Indian ethnic foods export is valued at USD 114 million currently. It has been projected to grow at USD 200 million in the next three years. India’s domestic market for Indian ethnic ready to eat and ready to cook too is growing very rapidly. Finally Indians are gradually moving to ready to eat ethos.

As we all know, the number of Indians not just traveling but also settling overseas is increasing day by day. And the number is definitely not coming down anytime soon. Again, it’s a known fact that the number of Indian restaurants and stores abroad are not as many as we would like them to. What’s the solution to this? The ready to eat Indian food! Hence, the demand for ready to eat Indian food exporters is at an all-time high. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, population of overseas Indian is estimated to be 31 million. This huge overseas Indian population all over the world represent a cumulative buying power that can rival the domestic Indian market. But this is not the only reason why this instant food is preferred so much across the seas. Many foreigners too relish Indian food especially after global shift towards vegetarianism. 

Population of Overseas Indians (Compiled in December, 2018)
SI. No.	Country		Overseas Indians
1	Afghanistan		2,969
2	Albania		52
3	Algeria		3,516
4	Andorra		160
5	Angola		4,000
6	Anguilla		20
7	Antigua & Barbuda		550
8	Argentina		2,400
9	Armenia		1,500
10	Aruba		1,000
11	Australia		496,000
12	Austria and Montenegro		31,000
13	Azerbaijan		977
14	Bahamas		300
15	Bahrain		316,175
16	Bangladesh		10,391
17	Barbados		2,214
18	Belarus		487
19	Belgium		19,202
20	Belize		10,050
21	Benin		1,563
22	Bhutan		60,000
23	Bolivia		60
24	Bonaire & Smaller Islands		200
25	Bosnia & Herzegovina		26
26	Botswana		12,000
27	Brazil		5,073
28	British Virgin Islands		60
29	Brunei Darussalam		11,598
30	Bulgaria		162
31	Burkina Faso		205
32	Burundi		500
33	Cambodia		1,510
34	Cameroon		245
35	Canada		1,016,185
36	Cape Verde Islands		20
37	Cayman Islands		1,510
38	Central African Republic		10
39	Chad		120
40	Chile		3,500
41	China		56,020
42	China (Hong Kong)		38,419
43	China (Rep. of) (Taiwan)		3,446
44	Colombia		218
45	Comoros		230
46	Congo (Dem. Rep. of)		9,025
47	Congo (Republic of)		358
48	Cook Island		205
49	Costa Rica		250
50	Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)		1,500
51	Croatia		80
52	Cuba		700
53	Curacao		1,500
54	Cyprus		5,858
55	Czech Republic		2,400
56	Denmark		11,200
57	Djibouti		350
58	Dominica (Commonwealth of)		215
59	Dominican Republic		175
60	East Timor		70
61	Ecuador		90
62	Egypt		3,765
63	EI Salvador		17
64	Equatorial Guinea		250
65	Eritrea		303
66	Estonia		956
67	Ethiopia		5,273
68	Fiji		315,198
69	Finland		11,775
70	France		109,000
71	France (Reunion Island)		280,250
72	France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin)		67,220
73	Gabon		110
74	Gambia		716
75	Georgia		3,200
76	Germany		146,093
77	Ghana		10,000
78	Greece		12,500
79	Grenada		5,200
80	Guatemala		83
81	Guinea (Republic of)		700
82	Guinea Bissau		104
83	Guyana		297,793
84	Haiti		580
85	Holy See		0
86	Honduras		17
87	Hungary		1,150
88	Iceland		333
89	Indonesia		107,500
90	Iran		4,273
91	Iraq		10,000
92	Ireland		34,000
93	Israel		97,467
94	Italy		197,301
95	Jamaica		80,000
96	Japan		28,717
97	Jordan		20,207
98	Kazakhstan		5,750
99	Kenya		80,000
100	Kiribati		50
101	Korea (DPR)		15
102	Korea (Republic of)		11,526
103	Kuwait		929,903
104	Kyrgyzstan		4,814
105	Laos, PDR		500
106	Latvia		785
107	Lebanon		8,537
108	Lesotho (Kingdom of )		1,500
109	Liberia		3,000
110	Libya		1,502
111	Liechtenstein (Principality of )		10
112	Lithuania		300
113	Luxembourg		2,372
114	Macedonia		15
115	Madagascar		17,500
116	Malaysia		2,987,950
117	Malawi		10,500
118	Maldives		25,108
119	Mali		299
120	Malta		2,000
121	Marshall Islands (Republic of)		15
122	Mauritania		60
123	Mauritius		894,500
124	Mexico		9,600
125	Micronesia		1
126	Moldova		198
127	Monaco		70
128	Mongolia		155
129	Montserrat		240
130	Morocco		354
131	Mozambique		32,500
132	Myanmar		2,008,991
133	Namibia		259
134	Nauru		20
135	Nepal		600,000
136	Netherlands		235,000
137	Netherlands Antilles		6,281
138	New Zealand		200,000
139	Nicaragua		12
140	Niger		150
141	Nigeria		40,035
142	Norway		20,018
143	Oman		689,145
144	Pakistan		0
145	Palau (Republic of)		15
146	Palestine (PLO)		20
147	Panama		13,000
148	Papua New Guinea		1,500
149	Paraguay		600
150	Peru		454
151	Philippines		120,000
152	Poland		4,600
153	Portugal		73,244
154	Qatar		692,039
155	Romania		1,053
156	Russian Federation		30,560
157	Rwanda		3,000
158	Samoa		70
159	San Marino		0
160	Sao Tome and Principe (Rep. of)		50
161	Saudi Arabia (Kingdom of)		2,814,568
162	Senegal		532
163	Serbia		63
164	Seychelles		10,000
165	Sierra Leone		950
166	Singapore		650,000
167	Slovak Republic		250
168	Slovenia		130
169	Solomon Islands		20
170	Somalia		100
171	South Africa		1,560,000
172	Spain		55,308
173	Sri Lanka		1,614,000
174	St. Kitts and Nevis		750
175	St. Lucia		5,255
176	St. Martin		5,300
177	St. Vincent & the Grenadines		3,050
178	Sudan		2,700
179	South Sudan		1,500
180	Suriname		154,471
181	Swaziland		1,000
182		Sweden	25,719
183		Switzerland	24,567
184		Syria	107
185		Tajikistan	1,125
186		Tanzania	60,000
187		Thailand	195,000
188		Togo	510
189		Tonga	46
190		Trinidad & Tobago	556,800
191		Tunisia	137
192		Turkey	1,708
193		Turkmenistan	482
194		Turks & Caicos Islands	235
195		Tuvalu	50
196		Uganda	30,000
197		Ukraine	7,963
198		UAE	3,104,586
199		UK	1,825,000
200		USA	4,460,000
201		Uruguay	530
202		Uzbekistan	382
203		Vanuatu	810
204		Venezuela	110
205		Vietnam	3,300
206		Yemen	10,500
207		Zambia	23,000
208		Zimbabwe	9,500

Many brands have emerged in the space to cater to the 31 million Indian diaspora who crave for Indian food. Major players in the ready to eat food industry in India are Nestle, Kelloggs, H.J Heinz, ConAgra, ADF Foods Ltd, ITC Ltd, Kohinoor Foods Ltd, Vadilal Industries Ltd, Venky’s India Ltd, Aakriti Foods Pvt. Ltd, Gits Food Products Pvt. Ltd, Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd, Haldiram Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd, Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt. Ltd, MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd, Veetee Fine Foods Ltd, and The Schwan Food Company.

Draft Agri export policy 2018 also identified the potential markets for Indian ethnic foods as USA, Australia, Canada, UAE and Nepal. These countries host huge Indian diaspora.

So far the focus has primarily been on catering to the domestic Indian market and Indian diaspora overseas.  Indian ethnic food was the focus product for IndusFood 2018. IndusFood is one of the most successful food and beverage trade show focused at exports. IndusFood endeavors to shift the focus from catering only to the Indian diaspora abroad to global consumers through food innovation for serving global palate. Currently the value added products from India find buyers in countries with high population of Indian diaspora such as US, UK, Canada and the Gulf. Enhanced emphasis on creating processed food for global mainstream market, as well as creating India as a potential supplier of competitive private label food products will open the doors for Indian manufacturers of the global audience, not being restricted by any race or ethnicity. Indusfood endeavors to shift the focus on creating products for the world rather than just targeting Indian diaspora. Indian ethnic food needs to go beyond Gulab Jamun, Rawa Idli and Kadhai Paneer.